15 Major Gripes People Have with Today’s Society

Angry businessman throwing his phone.Photo byImage Credit: Minervastock via Deposit Photos.

Are there certain things about modern society that you can’t stand? You’re not alone! While the world has come a long way, and we’ve seen great improvements in some ways, there are things that have left people feeling disappointed with the direction things have gone. Here are the top 15 things that people resent about today’s society.

1. Overconsumption

Some might say that overconsumption is the root cause of the downfall of today’s society. Look around, and you see mansions everywhere, warehouse stores, and restaurant portions large enough to feed you for 2+ meals. Almost everything about our society has been supersized, which, more often than not, leads to excessive waste. And it’s not just that everything is larger than life – we view things as disposable and are more likely to throw out something that is broken than try to fix it.

2. Family Vloggers

While social media has become a great way to keep up with friends and family, some have taken it to another level. For instance, family vloggers profit off filming their young children for the whole world to see without their consent. These poor kids have their most embarrassing moments filmed and shared online for the whole world to see so their parents can gain popularity through likes and comments.

3. Instant Gratification

In today’s world, we get instant gratification from almost anything. We’ve lost all motivation to do anything that would provide delayed gratification because we can get it in mere seconds in other ways – whether that’s from scrolling social media, making rash online purchases, or ordering takeout on DoorDash. There’s an instant solution for almost everything in our lives.

4. Equating Being Offended With Being Victimized

People have become so sensitive, getting offended by the littlest things. Even more than that though, some people equate being offended with being a victim. This is unfortunate because it devalues the experiences of ACTUAL victims, and makes it harder to hold people accountable when they DO victimize someone. It’s important to remember that just because you don’t like what someone has to say doesn’t mean the person is actually attacking you.

5. Lack of Critical Thinking

Our population is incredibly lacking in the ability to think critically in any capacity. School curriculums have moved away from teaching students HOW to think and are instead teaching kids WHAT they should think. This creates so many issues for those kids as they grow up, as they don’t know how to think for themselves or think to solve problems, which really catches up with them when they enter the workforce.

6. Lack of Basic Manners and Respect for Others

Somewhere along the way, people in today’s society lost their basic manners. It’s astounding how blatantly rude people are towards one another. It’s now considered normal to see people treat strangers like garbage, and it’s so sad. It’s disappointing that we are now pleasantly surprised when a stranger is respectful and has basic manners. It’s a rarity, but it used to be the norm.

7. Nobody Takes Accountability Anymore

These days, nobody likes to take accountability for anything. Instead, we have resorted to blaming everything on someone else and not taking responsibility for our own actions. And not just that, but we as a society have also stopped trying to hold others accountable when we know that they have done something wrong. It’s just become easier to remain ignorant than to actually hold ourselves and others accountable.

8. People Who Live To Be on Social Media

With the invention of the internet and, by extension, social media, there are now people who solely live just to post on social media. Their whole life becomes about making a highlight reel and showcasing their life on their Instagram feed, from their travels and visits to restaurants to everyday mundane activities. They take everything in through the lens of a camera instead of actually enjoying the experience.

9. How Quick People Are To End Relationships

It’s shocking to realize how quickly people end relationships these days. And not just that, but we do it without any regard for other people’s emotions. We end relationships without a second thought and, in some cases, without even telling the other person. It’s become so commonplace that we’ve even given this a term – ghosting. The fact that we are willing to walk away from relationships without a single word shows how pathetic we as a society have become.

10. Repeating Wars and Unavailability of Basic Necessities

It seems like we humans can’t learn our lesson. Despite all the wars we have been through, it seems like every time you turn on the news, there are reports of another war breaking out. This shouldn’t surprise us too much when 80% of the world’s population would kill just to have access to clean water and food. It’s sad that despite how much the world has changed, those basic necessities are still unavailable everywhere.

11. How Dumb People Are

It is scary to realize how excruciatingly dumb some people are. It truly can make you wonder how some developed countries have come so far despite the lack of intelligence among their population. It’s almost as if the majority of the population lacks the ability to form an opinion or use critical thinking skills. Instead, everyone repeats what is fed to them by the media and prominent politicians.

12. Rampant Narcissistic and Sociopathic Behavior

All it takes is one look around to see the rampant narcissistic and sociopathic behavior most people exhibit as a result of internet culture. We live in it – it’s everywhere. Smartphones and their ability to give us access to social media at our fingertips haven’t helped the situation. It’s pretty clear at this point that we weren’t meant to have millions of other people’s inner thoughts at our fingertips at all times.

13. Glorifying Celebrities and Influencers

It is crazy to see how much people glorify celebrities and social media influencers. It has reached the point where whatever they do is published as news online. To make matters worse, we as a society treat it like it’s news that matters. The fact that we give the same level of importance to people who have garnered a following online as we do to serious political issues is downright sad.

14. Significant Lack of Empathy

There is a significant lack of empathy amongst many humans in today’s society. It’s as if we have lost the ability to see one another as complex beings with feelings and emotions. We have stopped caring about others around us and are consumed by what we see online. There is really something wrong when we would rather watch a live stream of something that supports the streamer than help our next-door neighbors who are struggling to get by.

15. People Believing Anything They Read or Hear Online

It is shocking to realize the number of people who believe anything they hear or read about online and take it as fact. It’s as if we have lost the ability to think for ourselves or to fact-check the information the media feeds us. The chokehold that the media has on us has completely taken over our lives, leading people to hide in their houses from things that aren’t even true.

This article first appeared on Cents + Purpose.